Olympus E-PL3 Performance

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Olympus E-PL3 Performance

Timing and Performance

Very good speed overall for a compact system camera, though sluggish startup.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	~2.1 seconds	Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.
Shutdown	~0.9 second	How long it takes camera to turn off before you can remove the memory card.
Buffer clearing time	5 seconds after 9 large/super fine JPEGs*	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card.
	6 seconds after 9 RAW files*
	11 seconds after 8 RAW+ LSF JPEG files*
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 45MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Startup time was sluggish, even for a CSC, though shutdown was not bad. Buffer clearing time depends on the quality and number of shots, and on the speed of the memory card. With a fast 45MB/s UHS-I SDHC card, the E-PL3's buffer clearing times were good, though buffers weren't very deep.

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	~0.6 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to Play	~1.2 seconds	Time to display a large/super fine JPEG file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	~0.6 second	Time to display a large/superfine JPEG file already on the memory card.

Mode switching was quite fast, except for Record to Play which was slow.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus, Single-area AF mode	0.241 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. (All AF timing performed with the new Olympus 14-42mm II R kit lens at medium focal length.)
Full Autofocus, Multi-area AF mode	0.290 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.
Full Autofocus, Single-area AF mode Auto Flash Enabled	0.433 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting, TTL Auto flash enabled.
Continuous AF	0.215 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual Focus	0.113 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".
Prefocused	0.073 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Olympus E-PL3's full-autofocus shutter lag in single-area AF mode (center AF position) was only 0.241 second with the 14-42mm II R kit lens. That's almost as fast as the typical SLR these days. In 35-point "All Targets" AF mode, this time increased to 0.290 second, which is still quite fast, especially for a contrast-detection system. Full autofocus shutter lag increased to 0.433 second with the flash enabled, which includes an additional delay for the preflash metering. Continuous AF mode resulted in a shutter lag of 0.215 second. When manually focused, the E-PL3's lag time was 0.133 second, which is pretty fast. The E-PL3's prefocused lag time of 0.073 second is also quite fast, though not as fast as most point and shoots.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large/Super Fine JPEG	0.57 second	Time per shot, averaged over 7 shots, 4 seconds to clear*.
Single Shot mode RAW	0.56 second	Time per shot, averaged over 8 shots, 5 seconds to clear*.
Single Shot mode RAW + LSF JPEG	0.63 second	Time per shot, averaged over 9 shots, 10 seconds to clear*.
Early shutter penalty?	No	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous Mode Large/Super Fine JPEG	0.19 second (5.33 frames per second); 9 frames total; 5 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over 9 shots, then slows to an average of about 0.59s or 1.7 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous Mode RAW	0.19 second (5.33 frames per second); 9 frames total; 6 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 9 frames, then slows to an average of about 0.72s or 1.4 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous Mode RAW + LSF JPEG	0.19 second (5.34 frames per second); 8 frames total; 11 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 8 frames, then slows to 1.35s or 0.74 fps when buffer is full.
Flash Recycling	4.9 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 45MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times were quite good for a CSC, at about 0.6 seconds per shot no matter the type of file. Continuous mode was also quite good, at 5.3 frames per second in any quality mode. This roughly matches Olympus' spec of 5.5 frames per second, though we must point out that the burst speed falls to 4.1 frames per second when image stabilization is enabled according to Olympus. (We do all our lab tests on a tripod, so IS is always disabled for our measurements.) Buffer depths were good for an entry-level model, at 9 frames for large/super fine JPEGs or RAW, and 8 frames for RAW+JPEGs. Note that our test target for this was designed to be difficult to compress, so JPEG burst lengths should be longer with typical subjects.

Flash recycle time was about average with the included external flash, at 4.9 seconds after a full power discharge.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	6,898 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Download speeds were not bad, quick enough that you probably won't feel the need for a separate card reader. (Note that this test was performed with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 45MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card: Slower cards would likely show slower transfer times.)

Bottom line, the Olympus E-PL3's performance is quite good for a CSC. It's a bit slower than the E-P3 in autofocus and shutter lag, but quite a bit faster in burst mode. Buffer depths were good for an entry-level model, especially given the burst rate.

Battery

Battery Life
Slightly below average battery life for a CSC.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Still Capture, (CIPA standard)	300

The Olympus E-PL3 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and charger. The rated 300 shots per charge is a little below average for a compact system camera, and well below the capacity of most SLRs when using the optical viewfinder. We recommend getting a second battery for your E-PL3 if you plan any extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))